Board organizes fund-raising events

Lansing Educational Foundation Fund is charging ahead with plans for fund-raising events well into next year.

The organization, which was formed to raise money for Lansing School District to supplement state funding, intends to put on its second annual breakfast in the spring and has plans in the works for a large fund-raiser next fall.

The second annual breakfast will be held from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. April 7 at the Lansing Middle School commons. Like the breakfast earlier this year, tickets will be $20 per person. LEFF director Mary Alice Schroeger said the group hoped to improve on the success of its first breakfast, which brought 238 guests. She said she hoped to have about 300 people come this year.

The first breakfast was highlighted by keynote speaker Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. LEFF has already found a speaker for the second annual breakfast, Michael Chesser, CEO of Great Plains Energy Inc. of Kansas City, Mo. Schroeger said she had heard Chesser speak at a previous event and thought his message would be interesting to a wide range of ages. She said Chesser would speak about "leadership in all the places we are in our lives."

Dr. Kyle Kelly, president of the LEFF advisory board, helped to organize the breakfast last year and will do it again this year. He said he thought the first event came out well, but he said there would be some changes made this year "to make the program flow better."

"Hopefully, we can build on last year's success," he said.

One change made was the date - this year's event was in February, but the second breakfast will be pushed back to April. Kelly said the committee would also try to "get a little more organized in some areas" - one area he cited was check-in, which he said got backed up last time. He said that getting an earlier start on planning should help the second event run more smoothly.

What won't change at the second breakfast is recognizing student achievers, Kelly said. He said LEFF planned to again recognize students who had scored well on standardized tests and the ACT.

The other event LEFF has in the works is a major fund-raising dinner event. Schroeger said the idea was to have a chuck wagon dinner, dance and auction.

"It'll be kind of a high-class chuck wagon dinner," she said.

LEFF hopes to hold the event next fall, Schroeger said, but she said the organizers were waiting to find out when Lansing High School's homecoming week would be, so the events wouldn't conflict.

Chris Aus, one of the organizers for the event, said she hoped to have the date by September so the group can start planning. She said she and her co-chairs had not met yet because summer vacations had led to scheduling conflicts, and "we're all in the throes of getting daughters ready for college," she said. Once the organizers meet, she said, they would be able to decide on a fund-raising goal, potential auction items and other details.

Whatever the dinner earns, Schroeger said proceeds from the event would go to the fund for the major gift LEFF is donating to the district. She said the idea still was to buy a concert piano for the auditorium that will open at the high school in 2007, but she said patrons were welcome to make other suggestions.

Organizers for both LEFF events will need volunteers to join their committees to help plan, Schroeger said. Schroeger said she was looking for community members to join the support teams. Those interested can leave a message for Schroeger at the Lansing School District office, 727-1100, or e-mail her at schroegerm@usd469.net.

The next meeting of the LEFF advisory board is 6:30 a.m. Monday at the district office, 613 Holiday Plaza. The meetings are open to the public, but Schroeger said patrons should contact her to be put on the agenda if they want to speak to the board.